


Birthday Date

by EllieRose101



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, Season/Series 06
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-10-16 21:55:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20609951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllieRose101/pseuds/EllieRose101
Summary: Buffy is having a birthday party.Spike has a date.





	Birthday Date

One Shot 

Buffy loved getting ready for nights out. At least, she used to. That was old Buffy. Post-double-death Buffy assessed herself in the mirror, not knowing how she felt beyond sick.

“Another year older. Yay, me!” she muttered to herself, following it up with a groan.

Dawn called up the stairs, telling her to “hurry up already.”

Once more, Buffy surveyed the discarded outfits strewn across the bed. _This didn’t use to be so hard, did it?_ She wasn’t honestly sure she was remembering it right, but one thing she did know was that birthdays didn’t tend to go well for her and this one was already off to a crappy start.

The original plan had been for a casual get together at chez Summers, but Buffy decided against it. She wanted to get out. Move and dance and maybe drink a little until she could kiss Spike in front of her friends and she wouldn’t care and then it would be done. Out there.

So she’d moved the venue to the Bronze. Then Spike had ruined everything by asking if he could bring a date.

Buffy thought he was joking, but she didn’t laugh. He stood there, just looking at her expectantly and she realized he was actually waiting for an answer. Dawn and Willow had been looking at Buffy too, curiosity on their faces at her stunned silence.

“A date?” she questioned, when she finally got her lips to move.

“Well, yeah,” he said casually.

“You want to bring a date? To the Bronze? And you’re asking me?”

“It’s your birthday, init?”

Buffy had to snap her mouth shut. She couldn’t get over how blasé he was being about the whole thing. She genuinely wanted to run away and cry. She’d have sworn at him and stormed off if Willow wasn’t there to see, but it would be _way _obvious with her right there.

“Who even invited you anyway?” were the words that finally slipped off her tongue.

“I did,” said Dawn. “That’s okay, right? I mean, he’s pretty much one of a gang these days.” She looked between Buffy and Spike, who seemed offended. “Right?” she pressed again, no longer sounding so sure.

Spike shrugged.

“Fine,” said Buffy. “Come along. Bring a date.” _See if I care,_ she added to herself, plastering on a fake smile.

Spike grinned at her and something in Buffy’s stomach clenched. That was two days ago and it had only gotten worse since. He was really going to go through with it: bring someone along to make her jealous, or make her confess that they were really together, or maybe even to get over her and rub it in her face.

There was a knock on Buffy’s bedroom door and, a second later, Willow’s head appeared around the corner. “You all ready?”

Buffy looked down at herself again. “Yeah, uh… not so much.”

Willow frowned and came the rest of the way into the room. “You okay?”

Buffy opened her mouth to answer her. To say no and have all the truth spill out, but then someone knocked at the front door and the words dried up. How weird was it that she could tell him by his knock?

She turned back to Willow and plastered on the smile again. “I’m fine. Just one more minute.”

“Okay,” said Willow. “If you need anything, just shout.”

“You bet.”

The bedroom door closed and Buffy’s face dropped. It was exhausting keeping up the pretence. She really didn’t think she could do it much longer. But there were more pressing matters than that.

Do I wear something to make _him_ jealous? Rub it in his face that he can’t have me, or to make whatever skank he’s picked up look bad in comparison?

Buffy thought that was maybe the clever thing to do, but she also knew that would be playing into his hands. He would know that he’d gotten to her and he’d win. Plus, she really wasn’t feeling all glitz and she’d probably need to pummel something on the way home.

_I should stick to casual. Pretty yet practical. _

Whatever she needed to do, it had to be quick. Lifting the top item from the pile, she pulled it on and hurried downstairs. _Might as well get it over with._

Spike was stood at the bottom of the stairs looking up at her. Buffy’s legs wobbled when she caught the look in his eyes. She swallowed.

“You made it.”

“I did.” He bobbed his head. “You look good.”

Not sure how to react and not entirely sure if he was mocking her and her terrible ensemble, Buffy deflected the compliment. “Where’s your date?”

Spike raised his eyebrows. “I thought I was looking at her.”

Buffy stumbled on the last step, only catching herself at the last second. “You, huh?”

Spike chuckled to himself. “You’re a bit of a daft bird, aren’t you?”

She frowned at him, confident he was messing with her now but unclear as to why. ‘It’s my birthday,’ she wanted to whine like a petulant child. ‘Why are you being mean on my happy day?’

At her expression, Spike’s face became softer. He stepped a little closer. Buffy could feel his breath on her cheek.

“You will be my date, won’t you? Haven’t changed your mind?”

Mouth dry, Buffy couldn’t speak. It took her a moment to remember where she was and that all her friends were waiting for her. She tore her eyes away from Spike’s intense gaze and felt him sigh beside her.

Xander, Willow, Tara, and Dawn stood in the living room, watching them both. None of them looked annoyed or even surprised. Mostly, they just looked impatient. Maybe a little exasperated. Dawn in particular was giving Buffy a look like, ‘Why the hell are you staring at us? Answer the question already so we can go!’

Buffy looked back at Spike. “You’re serious?” she asked on a whisper, feeling her cheeks flame from being observed.

Spike rolled his eyes. “Bloody hell, Buffy. You really think I could have came with someone else on my arm?”

Her chest fluttered and the knot in her gut suddenly untied. She took one second to smile at him then turned on her heel and bounded back up the stairs to redress for the date of the century.

Behind her, she could hear Dawn sarcastically say, “She just needs a minute,” but there was a note of amusement in it too.

Back in her room, Buffy tried not to flap. _This is really happening. Oh, god. Oh god! This is really happening!_ She dressed even quicker than before, despite putting in a ton more effort.

Spike was still waiting for her at the foot of the stairs when she got back to him. Buffy felt lighter than air. She reached for his hand and squeezed.

“Okay, let’s go.”


End file.
